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3/21/2006

Gaming: Creation vs. Consumption

Wired magazine’s got a great article in it this month about how gaming helps to unleash human imagination. The article has some great points about gaming and the differences in how children are learning today, but the one big thought that stood out for me was this one…

“In an era of structured education and standardized testing, this generational difference might not yet be evident. But the gamers' mindset - the fact that they are learning in a totally new way - means they'll treat the world as a place for creation, not consumption."

Read the full article,titled Dream Machines and then think about its application to Libraries. I know there are lots of libraries out there (inlcuding our own) that are offering gaming tournaments and options for users and that's great, but should we do more?

For me the fundamental question here is not the gaming question (should we or should not doing gaming in the library*) but rather this ...

If the youth of today are our future, then how can we make libraries become more of place for creation, rather than just consumption? Got any ideas?

*BTW: Just for the record - My gaming hand for "yes" is raised high. :)

4 comments:

Annie Jo Cain
said...

The library could inform young people about careers in the production (creation) of video games (or anything in the gaming industry, like review writing, the ratings board, console & hardware production, etc.). This could be accomplished in many ways.

-Get a video game designer to speak about the job.

-Hold a contest for designing a mock-up game on paper.

-Have young people review games and make them available @ the library or on the library website. Or have them create guides with tips or 'cheats' to be shared.